Jim Knowles on biggest takeaways Ohio State players had from spring practice

The Ohio State Buckeyes will look a little bit different next season. In addition to some changes on the roster with NFL departures, the Buckeyes will also look different on the sidelines. Ohio State has a new defensive coordinator in Jim Knowles, who was brought over from Oklahoma State in the offseason.

After his first spring ball at Ohio State, Knowles is happy with what he’s seen so far from the Buckeyes on defense. When installing his defense, Knowles believes that Ohio State has picked it up rather quickly.

“They were able to learn that we do a lot of things that it’s simple, but it looks complex,” Knowles said. “I think they were able to get into the heart of it and get excited about it and say, ‘Okay, we can show a lot of different looks.’ But it was easy for them to learn.

“So it can be overwhelming in the beginning because it looks like a lot, but when you get into the nuts and bolts of it, they were able to follow along at a rapid pace, and that’s a credit to our players, too. I mean they soaked it up and they really wanted to learn. I think now they got a taste of how good the system can work from an installation standpoint.”

Ohio State’s defense has room for improvement under Knowles

Last season, the Buckeyes had one of the most dominant offensive attacks in all of college football. Ohio State struggled on defense, though, meaning Knowles has some work to do to turn things around. In 2021, Ohio State ranked in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten with 20.9 points allowed per game.

The Buckeyes also ranked in the bottom third of the conference last year with 366.6 yards allowed per game. Ohio State had a solid run defense, allowing 119.7 yards per game on the ground. Where Ohio State struggled was against the pass, as the Buckeyes allowed 246.9 passing yards per game, which was the third worst total in the Big Ten.

Ohio State finished last season 11-2 overall and 8-1 against Big Ten opponents. Knowles will have a stiff test in his first game experience at Ohio State, as the Buckeyes host Notre Dame in Week 1 to kick off the 2022 season.